From:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aqNg.FOkoSYY
"While the S&P 500 is still up 32 percent from a 12-year low on March 9, the index has fallen 5.6 percent since June 12. Executives at U.S. companies are taking advantage of the biggest stock-market rally in 71 years to sell their shares at the fastest pace since credit markets started to seize up two years ago. Insiders of S&P 500 companies <http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=SPX%3AIND> were net sellers for 14 straight weeks as the market rallied, according to data compiled by InsiderScmaore.com."
and posted a reference to it at work. This elicited the following comment from one of the software engineers:
"I find it bizarre that the 401K managers are "paying off" the current crop of execs. Everyone knows those equities have no future. It's probably some kind of circle-jerk where the fund managers are relying on the execs to project fake optimism so the fund managers can get their bonuses for ONE MORE YEAR. I think that's what it all comes down to: a game of musical chairs where those in the know just want a little more time to get some cold hard cash while the suckers are still in the game.
The losers are the folks who are having the 401K purchases deducted from their paychecks. 401K's turned out to be a long-range plan to loot the middle class. Don't believe for one minute that the huge losses in retirement accounts are accidental or were not predictable The "stock market collapse" is the biggest shift of wealth from the middle class to the ultra-rich in the history of the world."
His lucidity is not that singular. My sense is that most people at work (small software firm) have a pretty good sense of what's going on. What to do about it is another thing. Every single 401k plan at work is down at least 50%.
Joanna